NCACH releases a Request for Proposals for telehealth infrastructure and access planning in North Central Washington
The North Central Accountable Community of Health (NCACH) has released a Request for Proposals (RFP), seeking vendors to provide a comprehensive plan for telehealth infrastructure and access in Chelan, Douglas, Grant, and Okanogan Counties.
As one of nine ACHs across Washington State, NCACH plays an integral role in the Health Care Authority’s Medicaid Transformation Project to improve the health of their communities and transformation of health care delivery. With the onset of Covid-19 in March 2020 and the subsequent lock down that followed, healthcare, social-service and community based organizations had to pivot to telehealth services.
This proved to be a learning curve for providers and patients alike. As a predominantly rural region with some areas designated as frontier, residents face barriers that preclude them from achieving whole-person health, in addition organizations are limited in their capacity to provide services due to workforce shortages. While telehealth adoption increased, barriers to accessing healthcare continue to exist, including: lack of reliable broadband, and lack of access to private spaces and technology for patients to support an optimal setting for telehealth and tele-behavioral health appointments.
NCACH is soliciting proposals from qualified vendors to produce a practical and achievable plan for a community-based solution to enhance telehealth capacity for the North Central Washington region, including Chelan, Douglas, Grant and Okanogan counties. This plan will include a realistic vision, address design elements at both a community and regional level, and outline implementation steps and associated budget.
Proposals must be submitted by 5:00 pm, February 12, 2021. More information, including the RFP application, can be found online at https://ncach.org/wp-content/uploads/NCACH.TELEHEALTH-RFP-2020.FINAL_.pdf.Download RFP Questions and Answers here. (Updated 02-02-2021, updated daily if new questions come in.)
Any inquiries should be directed to Wendy Brzezny, wendy.brzezny@cdhd.wa.gov
